El Lagarto Steak House & Seafood

I had a very disappointing experience at El Lagarto, which is located on the beach in Sámara. The food had an unpleasant lighter fluid flavor, suggesting the wood used might have been impregnated with some fuel. The calamari and shrimp were undercooked and inedible, and the meat and vegetables had an off taste. Additionally, the napkins smelled like bathroom disinfectant, and the grilled pineapple dessert tasted chemical. This was one of the worst meals I’ve had in Costa Rica, and it was around $80 per person, totaling a bit under $160 for two, which is noticeably pricey for the area. The only redeeming factor was the kind and pleasant waiter named Steven. Unfortunately, this poor experience seems to be a common theme in other reviews.

I had a really disappointing experience here. The prices were outrageously high, and the food did not live up to expectations. I came with a college group of 12, and unfortunately, we felt completely overcharged. For example, one student asked for cheese on her potato and was given a single slice—only to be charged $3 for it. I ordered a Pellegrino, which ended up costing over $7. The food itself was just as underwhelming. We started with a salad with chicken. It had no dressing, and the chicken was extremely dry—all for $18. I ordered the tuna special, but they never asked how I wanted it cooked, and it arrived completely well-done, with no pink center at all. My coworker’s meat dish was also dry and barely edible. One student ordered a mushroom entrée that took an hour and a half to arrive—only to come out completely burnt. He could barely eat it, said it was one of the worst meals he ever had. Despite the long wait and poor quality, nothing was comped. I attached a picture of my receipt for reference! To make matters worse, the service at checkout was just as frustrating. The waitress/manager with a septum piercing was incredibly rude, both to our group and to the waitress who served us. She made an unnecessary comment about one of my students being in a rush—when, in reality, he had been waiting at the counter for 10 minutes just to pay. While I was still standing there, she even started berating our waitress, Sadie, in front of customers, which was completely unprofessional. She clearly was having a bad night and everyone could tell. The only positive aspect of this experience was our server, Sadie, who was kind, accommodating, and truly did her best. She deserves a raise. Unfortunately, the overall experience was so poor that I cannot recommend this restaurant. Was the most expensive, and worst meal we had in Costa Rica!

Food great, service great, drinks great, ambiance great. On the beach, but set back a bit, just all wood everywhere. Could use a little more something for the ambiance compared to other restaurants on the beach for a high end steak house. Everything grilled and gives all the food a great taste. The grilled veggies ( bakes potato& tomato) were fantastic. We shared beef tenderloin and stuffed chicken. Went off the beach in swimsuits with a shirt on and was fine. Don’t have to dress up.

Loved the food at this place, ended up going twice for dinner. The atmosphere is really nice, and the food is really good. Ordered the whole grilled squid, mixed seafood platter and beef tenderloin

Let's start with the good - great spot right at the beach. Now... We were a group of 12. Everyone had to wait an hour for their food, except me. I had to wait an extra 35 minutes. The grilled mushrooms I got were probably really on the grill for that time cause they were charred. Very, very burnt and devoid of taste. The tomato was the only nice thing on my plate, the potato - passable, but the mushrooms, oh man... I'm 28 and I can safely attest that it was the worst meal I've had so far. At the start of our order, we told them that we will be paying individually because we realized it might be an inconvenience for them if we told them that at the end. The staff however told us that it will be alright. It took us 25 minutes at the end of our meal to pay the bill because they couldn't figure out an extra dish which we didn't order and they held up payments till they sorted it out amongst themselves. The staff even passed a rude comment, "He seems to be in a lot of hurry to get back to the hotel" at one of my friends which is pretty disrespectful considering we waited for so long for our meals and then to pay. The bill was, well, what it was. Expensive, which I knew going in, but I expected a good meal for it considering how high the average reviews are.

It was an extremely overpriced meal and it was absolutely horrible. They have an absolutely beautiful grill but it looks like my steak actually never touched it. I ate there last year and I ordered medium rare and the steak was basically out of the package and on my plate. I thought I would give it one more shot this year so I ordered medium. It was like eating an old catcher's mitt with no flavor. There is no way that it even touched a grill. I ended up feeding it to the stray dog that came into look for food. I gave it two shots and both times were horrible I'll never eat here again.

We loved El Lagarto! Showed up without searching and it hit the spot for a couple of foodies…. Mmm the catch of the day, red snapper was soooo absolutely crazy! I swear we ate this for 1 hour. Then the mixed salad with tenderloin strip was also fire. Stephanie provided excellent service and was the highlight of our experience! If you’re debating… order now!!!!

The service and food were excellent, but was definitely U.S. prices for the food. The portions were filling and the drinks were decent. The restaurant was quieter than the surrounding ones, which was nice.